Cayman Current (https://www.caymancurrent.org/tag/pandemic-in-paradise/)
Almost two years after the beginning of the pandemic, it remains difficult to know the number of COVID-19 deaths that have notably occurred outside hospitals in Guadeloupe and Martinique, which have 40% and 41% vaccination rates. Amid the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, an insurrection has sparked.
Without massive testing and no comprehensive mortality statistics, it is impossible to quantify how many people have been infected and died of COVID-19 in Haiti. But one thing is certain, Haitian health authorities have not had control over the spread of the virus in the country.
A month after Gov. Pedro Pierluisi eliminated the key protection measures related to COVID-19, virus-related deaths in Puerto Rico saw a rebound that nearly reached the level of the highest peak of mortality of the entire pandemic.
A cross-border investigation done by the Center for Investigative Journalism and journalists from partner media outlets in Haiti, Guadeloupe and the Dominican Republic shows the scope of deaths from COVID-19 in the Caribbean.
The precariousness of public resources and services, cultural practices and political crises are the main barriers that lead to the lack of reliable statistics and prevent knowing the real impact of COVID-19 in several countries of the Caribbean region.